With reference to FIG. 1, an example of a conventional medium voltage switchgear is shown generally at 10. As used herein, the terms “medium voltage switchgear” refers to switchgear rated for operation up to and including 38 kV. In general, switchgear 10 comprises an enclosure, such as metal-clad enclosure 12, for housing the switchgear components. Enclosure 12 may contain one or more separate compartments, such as circuit breaker compartment 14, main bus compartment 16, and cable compartment 18. The bus and cable compartments can be formed as a single compartment. Switchgear 10 contains one or more circuit breakers, generally indicated at 20. In the embodiment shown, circuit breaker 20 is a three-pole drawout type circuit breaker. Circuit breaker 20 is connected to primary contacts that are supported by primary conductor bushings 22 that are connected to current-carrying bus bars 24.
In this typical switchgear arrangement, the current transformers 26 are mounted within the circuit breaker compartment 14. This allows easy maintenance and fast replacement of the current transformers in case of a fault or based on necessity. However, due to a narrow width of newer medium voltage switchgear, it is not possible to install the current transformers inside the circuit breaker compartment. Typically, the current transformers are installed behind or at the rear of the circuit breaker compartment in a narrow width switchgear. However, since the current transformers are located at the rear side of a circuit breaker housing, they may be difficult to access for maintenance.
Thus, when current transformers are mounted to a rear of a circuit breaker housing, there is a need to provide access to the current transformers through the front of the circuit breaker compartment.